Karner Blue Butterfly

1)Raise and plant lupine in a Karner Blue butterfly habitat restoration project2)Create a habitat conservation plan to allow only activities that conserve and restore the butterfly and it's habitat such as timber harvests (cutting down timber trees) in a Karner Blue habitat or mowing grass only after butterflies finished producing3)Provide private landowners in the butterflies area help to plant and maintain wild lupine4)Have surveys for the butterflies to find out what other plants might suit them5)Create more jobs and volunteer opportunities for those who want to bring back these butterflies6)Sponser the Karner Blue butterflies on sites such as BringBackTheWild to raise money to remake their habitats

By: Andrea Tikhonov

General InformationLocation: They are located in isolated areas that strech from New Hampshire&New York to Southern Ontario and states near the Great Lakes.Description- The Karner Blue butterflies have greyish undersides with spots - but the males have blue wings with black and white edges, while females have darker wings with orange spots along the edge. The both have a wingspan of about the size of a quarter, and one of the things that make this species so unique is that their larvae matches the colour of the leaf it's on and it's covered in hairs to protect itself from predators.Habitat : They're found where wild lupine grows (sandy soil, sandy pin barrers, becah dunes and oak savannahs)Niche : These butterflies are herbivores and they feed on the leaves of the wild lupine and some flowering plants. Their predators include dragonflies, spiders, white-tailed deer and birds. two butterfly broods are produced each year, so one in the spring from the past year and one in June for the new generation).

Current StatusTheir current status is extirpated, so they are no longer found in Ontario.There is no exact population count, but it's a fact that the populationhas took a major decrease.

Key Factors Leading to Population Decline There is only one major key factor leading to this population decline, and that is habitat loss. Wild lupine, which is mandatory for this species, requires open and sunny areas – and it's original habitat was taken over by plants that create shady conditions through mostly natural succession or because it was destroyed by development. Also, there used to be suppressed wildfires to keep the plants that caused shade out of the wild lupine environment, but now that this action has stopped, the karner blue butterflies have nowhere to live.

Consequences or Threats to EcosystemPredators such as the dragonflies, spiders, white-tailed deer and birds will go through a slight decrease in population because they will have one less food option in their food web. Also, mound-building ants will have a population decline because the caterpillars of these butterflies created sugary substances for these ants to consume.

Action PlanThe key factors that I believe are the most critical for this species are open sunny areas where wild lupine grows.The actions that could most effectively address these key factors are cutting down the vegetation that's causing this shade (such as timber). Or by planting more lupine in places that suits their needs.To address the consequences and concerns of these species, I could take the actions listed above (cutting down the vegetation causing shade and planting wild lupine). In order to take these actions, I could find areas that have too much of a shade-causing plant or shrub or tree and organize a way to remove them. I could then gather volunteers to help plant and maintain the wild lupines in a new area.

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The National Wildlife FederationFederal Parners for Fish&Wild were both organizations that helped put most of these solutions to work.